Tributes to Formby-raised author Dame Beryl Bainbridge

TRIBUTES have been paid to Formby-raised author Dame Beryl Bainbridge who died last week.

The acclaimed novelist passed away in the early hours of Friday morning, aged 77.

Dame Beryl was a former Merchant Taylors’ schoolgirl, expelled for writing a poem which mentioned sex.

She was admitted to hospital in London last week after feeling unwell.

A spokeswoman for Dame Beryl’s literary agent Johnson and Alcock said: “She went into hospital with a recurrence of an illness she had battled with some time ago.”

Jane Davis, director of Liverpool’s The Reader Organisation, said: “Beryl was a wonderful writer and an amazing personality.

“I had a great day with her at a Reader’s Day in Liverpool’s Central Library in 2008. She was not just a great writer but a characterful individual. You feel that in her books – keep reading them!”

Dame Beryl was born in Liverpool in 1933 and started her working life as an actress in repertory at the Playhouse, a world she immortalised in her novel-turned-film An Awfully Big Adventure. Everyman and Playhouse artistic director Gemma Bodinetz said: “Beryl was a great writer and a true original with an indomitable spirit.

“She was a passionate woman with a sharp intellect and known for her disarming honesty and direct manner, and yet her visit to the Playhouse was filled with poignancy and affection.”

Dame Beryl was a five-times Booker prize nominee and won the Whitbread novel award twice.

At the time of her death she was putting the finishing touches to her latest book, The Girl In The Polka-Dot Dress. It is believed there are plans to publish it next year.